


Neighborhood Watch

by debwalsh



Series: Bingo-Bingo [22]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Bingo, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Fluff Bingo, Husbands, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Retirement, adopting a pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 05:37:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19900699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debwalsh/pseuds/debwalsh
Summary: In which Steve and Bucky are part-time superheroes and full-time husbands, living a good life away from the Avengers Tower. When some teenagers vandalize their neighborhood, Steve steps in to make things right, and in the process, discovers the secret Bucky’s been hiding.Fills the Adopting a Pet square on my Fluff Bingo card, written for BethofAus!





	Neighborhood Watch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BethofAus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethofAus/gifts).



> Thank you BethofAus for the prompt request! This didn’t go the way I planned, but I have to say I love it just the same. Always a pleasure to write something just for you!

It was weird.Here they were, living in a renovated warehouse, with a view of New York Harbor, not far from where Buck had worked after high school.But high school was over 80 years in the past, and neither of them ever had to work again if they didn’t want to.Back pay and reparations, combined with outstanding financial advice from one Ms. Virginia “Pepper” Potts had resulted in a ... comfortable cushion.They weren’t in the same sphere as Tony Stark, but money wasn’t a barrier to anything they really wanted to do.Except maybe that summer house on the Moon Buck’s been wanting since he discovered Heinlein and John W. Campbell.

When they’d ventured outside of Avengers Tower to look for a living space in Brooklyn, they’d surprised everyone by choosing the industrial space they now owned.Everyone had expected them to gravitate back to the old neighborhood, maybe a rehabbed brownstone. Maybe even the building where they’d lived once.Something sappy and nostalgic, and not at all modern.The Avengers and their friends had been surprised when the two super soldiers had opted for the ultra modern warehouse reno, but Steve and Bucky had both had enough with looking back.They had fond memories of some of the past, but the truth was it hadn’t always been kind to either of them, so they were both eager to look toward the future.A future that they would build together.

Besides, the light was seductively perfect for Steve to paint by, the sight lines were clear and unobstructed to satisfy Buck’s requirements, and the building was eminently defensible, which made it easier to relax. 

And they didn’t have to worry about breaking the wall or disturbing the neighbors when they had sex.Or upsetting JARVIS if their metabolisms raced too far above his preprogrammed limits, something that frequently happened when Steve and Bucky got each other’s motors really running.So, most of the time, really. 

They had to fend for themselves without a cadre of Stark employees to answer their every need and whim, and they’d turned down an installation of JARVIS despite Tony’s power pout and melty brown eyes.They’d refused Widow-level surveillance on the neighborhood - because, really, could Nat compare with her mentor the Winter Soldier?They still went back to the Tower for movie nights, and both remained on call - limited and back-ups only - for Avengers business.Mostly, they spent their time making the warehouse a home, finding purpose in the 21st century, and being what they’d always been meant to be - friends, lovers, husbands.Til the end of the line that was never going to end.

The reinforcing beams already present in the industrial strength floors and walls, and the soundproofing they’d installed, ensured them a sturdy and private retreat in which to enjoy a future in which they didn’t have to hide who they were to each other.

Steve loved it.The building, the freedom, the sex.And he loved that he got to share it all with the love of his life, Bucky Barnes. 

Who was nowhere to be found at this time of day, to be honest.Steve had long ago broken himself of the habit of panicking whenever he couldn’t find Bucky, and Bucky had long since become more comfortable in his own skin, eliminating the need for Steve’s panic.But Steve was a nosy sonovabitch, and he liked to know what was going on.

He’d been good so far, but truth was his curiosity was getting the better of him. For the past four weeks, seven days a week, Bucky disappeared from their home at 2:15 on the dot, and didn’t return until 4:30.Rain or shine. Wherever he went, he’d worked it into his daily routine, without Steve.

Which was okay.More than okay.They weren’t surgically joined at the hip, or any other body part.And Steve encouraged Bucky’s independence, reveled in it, even.

He trusted Buck, no question.But ... nosy.He came by that naturally.Sarah Rogers had been a saint in many ways, but keeping her Irish nose out of the neighbors’ affairs hadn’t been one of them.Among the ladies - and some of the gents - of their tenement, gossip had been currency.And the best place to spend it had been the parlor at the Rogers home.

Steve was Captain America, and the Sentinel of Liberty, if you paid attention to the nonsensical epithets he’d been lumbered with over the years. 

But first, he’d been Sarah Rogers son.

Second, he was Bucky Barnes’s husband.

And third?“Fuck it,” he exclaimed to himself, and pushed off from the couch.

If it was something serious, Buck would have mentioned it.They didn’t keep secrets between them about the big stuff.So whatever it was, it wasn’t anything to worry about.So Steve didn’t feel too guilty about giving in to his native curiosity.

&&&

It was 2:45 by the time Steve exited the warehouse.He armed the security system as he left - leaving it off would no doubt set Bucky off, and it honesty wasn’t worth upsetting him.And in truth was there was a shady element that seemed drawn to the docks and the many still empty warehouses - that hadn’t changed much over the past couple of generations.Gentrification only made the finished buildings that much more attractive, he supposed, while the empty spaces seemed that much more forlorn.

So he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and wandered the warehouse complex, listening.Only a few of the warehouses were still in use, and those were closest to either the water or the roadway into the area.The renovated spaces were clustered near the water and around some pretty nice green space the developer had nurtured, creating a sense of community in the wild.He passed beyond the homes and into the unused warehouse region.Then he heard the sound of something hitting a surface, followed by glass breaking, and young male voices laughing and catcalling.

Teenagers.There was a high school nearby, and the warehouse district was often used as a shortcut to the neighborhood on the other side.Most kids were pretty well behaved, but there always seemed to be a group who weren’t happy if they weren’t defacing someone else’s property.Joe Finnegan and Claude Krauss when he was a kid.The Nazis and Hydra.Whoever the hooligans were that were breaking windows now. 

Steve broke into a trot and ate up the distance between him and said hooligans, and soon found himself looking at quartet of teenaged boys, all white and well-groomed, pushing and shoving each other in a sea of broken glass.One, an attractive dark-haired boy with a mean look in his eye, pushed another of the boys hard, forcing him to fall onto his hands and knees so that he screamed when the glass shards bit into his skin.

“Hey!” Steve shouted, closing the distance so that he was suddenly right there, helping the injured kid up.“You could hurt someone seriously roughhousing like that.And who’s gonna pay for the broken windows?”

“Ah, who cares?It’s abandoned, nobody owns these dumps,” Mean Eyes said derisively, sneering at his companion who was now standing, bleeding, and trying to hold back tears.

“I do.I live here.And these properties aren’t abandoned.They belong to people.You’ve committed a crime here.What’s your name, son?”

“What’s yours?”

Steve could tell from the susurration of young voices around him that the other boys were working out who he was, but Mean Eyes was too full of himself to realize just who he was sassing.

He turned briefly to the injured boy, and asked gently, “You okay? You should probably see a doctor, make sure you don’t have any glass stuck under your skin.When’s the last time you had a tetanus shot?”

The boy was about to answer when Mean Eyes grabbed at Steve’s arm, demanding nastily, “Hey, geezer!I asked you a question!Who the fuck are you?”

“Geezer.That’s a good one,” he heard Bucky say with a chuckle from where he lounged against the dirty brick wall, observing the fracas.Because of course he would just materialize out of nowhere.And damn if that didn’t cause a Pavlovian flutter in Steve’s insides.Brought to you by Bucky Barnes since 1930.

“Yeah, laugh it up goofball,” Steve answered with a grin, shrugging off the offending teen, who puffed himself up trying to be intimidating.Steve turned toward him, held up a finger, and frowned.“How old are you?Seventeen?Eighteen?You really wanna go through life as an asshole?”

Around them, his friends snickered and muttered things like “that’s his life’s ambition” and “goals, dude.”But when Bucky shoved off from the wall, and the sunlight glinted off his prosthetic, there was a hushed in-drawn breath among them.

“Shit, that’s the Winter Soldier!”

“Wait, if that’s him, then he’s -“

“Steve Rogers.You’re in my neighborhood, son.Learn to show some respect.”

The penny dropped, and Mean Eyes just about swallowed his tongue.“Y-you’re -“

“Gonna expect you to clean up this mess,” Bucky interjected then, sauntering over as he flexed his Wakandan-made prosthetic arm.It was truly beautiful sight, all sleek lines, the mechanical musculature mirroring the perfection of his right arm, the metal gleaming in the sunlight.Who was he kidding?It was Bucky.Of course it was beautiful.

But to Mean Eyes, he was the fearsome Winter Soldier, and that gorgeous work of art Shuri had made him was a thing of terror. 

“That’s right. You,” Steve pointed to Mean Eyes, “are going to clean up this mess.No help from your pals, since I’m betting these windows would still be intact if it weren’t for you.And you’re gonna put your contact details in here,” Steve thrust his phone at the kid, who stared at it like it was about to morph into a Kree warrior, “so I can follow up with you about repair costs for the owner.”

“I don’t have that kind of money!”

“Then I guess maybe you shouldn’t go around breaking people’s stuff if you can’t afford to repair it,” Bucky mused, crossing his arms over his chest to frame his pecs to perfection.Seriously, the things that man did to Steve.

“Maybe your Dad does, huh?” one of his friends taunted.

Mean Eyes - Jared Turlington III according to info he’d hastily keyed into Steve’s phone - of course he would be a third generation asshole - swallowed thickly while his eyes attempted to exit his head and his skin took on a greenish pallor.Bucky was sure as hell doing something to him, too, although Steve would wager not quite what Buck did to him.But fear of Dear Old Dad having to pony up the scratch to cover III’s youthful indiscretion was definitely a factor here.

“You could be on to something.Maybe I should have a chat with your Dad.”

“Dad’s a fan,” Jared choked out.

“Of?”

“You.Um, of Captain America.”

“But not you, huh?”

“Uh -“

“He thinks your ass is fine,” another of the idiots contributed, and Jared’s complexion turned from green to red in a heartbeat.

“It is.It’s also mine,” Bucky interjected with a smirk, and reached around to give said ass a proprietary squeeze.

Fuck, but Steve needed to get Bucky back to the loft.But first, asshole kids, he reminded himself, and tamped down the arousal proximity to Bucky Barnes always triggered.“That it is, babe,” Steve agreed with a grin.“Now, Jared - every bit of it,” he gestured toward the glittering shards on the tarmac, “before you leave.”

“I’m expected.I can’t be late -“

“I’m more than happy to explain,” Steve interrupted, gesturing for the kid to hand over his phone.“Why don’t you call your - Mom?Dad?”

“Dad,” Jared answered miserably, pulling the phone out of his back pocket.His expression had turned decidedly grim as he thumbed the keypad and handed the phone over to Steve.“I can’t be in trouble -“

“Then you shouldn’t do stuff that gets you into trouble,” Steve admonished.“You’ll find a way to pay for the damage, right?”

Jared nodded miserably.

“I’m gonna take you at your word, Jared. Hi, Mr. Turlington?” Steve greeted cheerily.“You don’t know me, but I wanted to thank you for letting your son help out with a community clean up project here at the Dockview Estates.Oh, sorry, no I didn’t introduce myself.Steve Rogers.Yes, that Steve Rogers. Yeah, no, Jared and his friends are pitching in to help clean up some vandalized windows.No, it’s not an official project.Yeah, sure I can look into making it one.College application material, huh?Yeah, I guess my name on a letter of recommendation would look okay. Autograph? Yeah, I think that could be arranged.So it’s okay with you if he sticks around for a while?That’s swell, Jay.I really appreciate it.Yeah, you’re right, us native-born Brooklynites gotta stick together.Oh, I dunno.There’s quite a bit of damage that’s accumulated.Maybe three hours today, then at least a couple every day for the next ... three weeks?Yeah?That’s killer-diller.Thanks, Jay.It means a lot. Um, yeah, sure, we’ll have to set something up. Great, Yep. Talk to you later.”

Steve thumbed off the phone and smiled at Jared. “Apparently you need some community service credits and a letter of recommendation for college.I need this whole complex cleaned up. Your Dad thinks it’s a bang-up idea.Any questions?”

“Uh -“

Steve reached over and patted Jared on the shoulder and grinned.“He who maketh the mess, cleans up the mess. With interest.We cool?”

“The coolest,” Bucky said then.At the wide-eyed , gobsmacked expression on Jared’s face, Bucky grinned.“You’re gonna need tools.Go see Mr. Chakrabarti at the bodega and get some brooms, a coupla dust pans and some bags.Tell him The Stucky sent you, and he’ll give you a discount.”

“But -“

“Hey, it was his idea -“

“Will you sign a letter for me too?”

“You all do a good job, and I will.So, we’re cool?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll check in with you later.Now, Buck - got something to show me?”

Buck held Steve’s gaze for a moment, considering, then nodded, jerking his head back the way he’d come.“C’mon, punk.Guess it’s time.”

&&&

“That little turd blossom and his pals were chasing the Mom a few weeks back.She was huge, about to pop.Managed to grab her and set her up in here, made a nice little nest for her to have her kids.”

“You mean you broke and entered.And pilfered from our linen closet.Those towels she’s resting on are Egyptian cotton - they were a housewarming present from Pepper.”

Bucky shrugged.“Took advantage of available resources.I needed her to be safe.She needed a place to give birth.And now the kittens need a safe place to grow into cats.”

“You can’t keep them in an abandoned warehouse forever.”

Again, the shrug.

“Why didn’t you bring them back to our place?”

“You’re allergic to cats.”

“I was.70-odd years ago.Super soldier serum, remember?”

“That worked on cats?”

“You still allergic to ragweed?”

Bucky shook his head, and Steve gave him a “look.”Bucky blushed and ducked his head, grinning.“Duh.Okay.So, Stevie.Feel like having a family with me?”

Steve peered into the wooden box with the nicest towels from their place arranged so that the pretty tuxedo Mom was snug and comfy, and her three kittens - all variations of black and white - nursed diligently.She looked up at him with a smug expression - she knew how cute they all were, how irresistible.Steve reached out and offered her his index finger, and she immediately rubbed her face against it, marking him.Claiming him.He felt an odd sort of thrill, being accepted by this scrappy, determined feline who’d captured his fella’s heart.

“Yeah, Buck.I’d love to have a family with you.”

END

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I have a blast writing to prompts, and this is no different. 
> 
> I think Bucky’s protective instincts toward Steve would lead him to occasionally forget that Steve doesn’t have the same ailments anymore. And I totally believe that Steve’s Ma was Gossip Central.
> 
> Enjoy!


End file.
